Independent watchdog says NSA program is illegal and should end

Less than a week after President Barack Obama announced plans to overhaul controversial NSA phone data collection program, an independent review board has questioned the program's legality. According to a Washington Post report, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board,...

Coupla things... 1) this is why the NSA has said they only collect what's called 'envelope data' (meta data) meaning data like From, To, etc... stuff you would find on the outside of an envelope. Whether this is all they collect we'll probably never know, but apparently this Civil Liberties Board thinks they're doing more.

2) Calling something illegal doesn't do jack if you you're not a judge. They'd have to sue the govt and let a judge decide. Just like what happened with Obamacare. People said it was illegal for the govt to force you to buy something (healthcare) because it is. But the supreme court ruled that they're not forcing you to buy health insurance, it's just a tax. So by calling the requirement to buy insurance a tax, they're not forcing you to buy anything. Point being... it's not an easy thing to get something 'illegal' outlawed.